Greenland and Antarctica – Video shows the polar ice sheets as new research reveals Greenland and Antarctica lost 11,309 billion tonnes of ice between 1979 and 2023, raising global sea levels by 31.4 millimetres.

An international team combined 42 independent satellite surveys from 27 missions, reaching back to 1972 for Greenland and 1979 for Antarctica. The assessment found that 84 percent of the combined ice loss came from glaciers speeding up and sending more ice into the ocean, while 16 percent resulted from surface melting.

The ice sheets now account for around a quarter of global sea level rise. Greenland contributed 6,215 billion tonnes of loss, while Antarctica lost 4,780 billion tonnes.

Greenland’s annual ice loss increased from about 60 billion tonnes in the 1980s to 264 billion tonnes in the 2010s. Antarctica’s rate rose from around 48 billion tonnes to 202 billion tonnes over the same period.

West Antarctica’s ice discharge, driven by Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, increased in every decade of the record. Antarctica’s net loss was caused by ocean melting of its outlet glaciers.

Ice loss temporarily slowed from 2020 to 2023. Record snowfall over East Antarctica offset some glacier losses, while milder Greenland summers roughly halved surface melting. Scientists said these were short-term fluctuations rather than a reversal of the long-term trend.

Dr Inès Otosaka said more than four-fifths of the ice lost was discharged into the ocean by faster-flowing glaciers, showing the long-term trend is driven by the ice sheets’ response to a warming ocean.

Professor Andrew Shepherd said the 31.4 millimetres of sea level rise puts another six to nine million people at risk of coastal flooding and erosion.

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